Singapore’s Changi Airport is consistently rated in passenger surveys as one of the world’s best – if not the best in the world. When an airport has a reputation like that to uphold, you expect a lot when it opens a brand new passenger terminal – and Changi does not disappoint.

The airport just opened its new Terminal 4, characterized by sweeping, open design; innovative passenger diversions; and a whole bunch of creative dining and retail options. Example: T4’s “Heritage Zone” is a string of retail and dining concessions that all have the facades of traditional Singapore shops; restaurants there serve up regional specialties like kaya toast, mee siam and kopi, and there’s a live chef’s station where Indian prata pancakes are prepared on the spot.

Overall, T4 has 81 concessions, including 62 stores and service establishments and 19 food and beverage options. That includes a big duty-free shopping zone.

The terminal also boasts the latest in passenger processing technology, including a vast self-bag-drop area, speedy security and customs processing, and so on. And what would a new terminal be without visual diversions like innovative art displays and huge LED walls.

Airlines operating out of T4 include Cathay Pacific, Korean Air, Cebu Pacific, Spring Airlines, the four AirAsia Group carriers, and Vietnam Airlines.

So many new hotels have been opening in New York City that we haven’t been able to keep up with them all in our periodic new hotel updates. So in an effort to catch up, here’s an all-New York update on some of the latest developments on the Big Apple lodging scene.

In lower Manhattan, longer-stay travelers have a couple of new lodging options. One is the Q&A Residential Hotel, the first commercial hotel from the business apartment company Furnished Quarters. Guest units of 500 to 1,400 square feet are designed to serve as apartment-style accommodations for business travelers (although there is no minimum stay requirement), most of them no doubt in the financial services industry. Located at 70 Pine Street – the old art-deco landmark AIG Building – the hotel is just a couple of blocks from the New York Stock Exchange. Guest units have full-sized kitchens, smart TVs and walk-in closets; some have washers and dryers. Advance purchase rates start at $371.

A big rental suite at the AKA Wall Street. (Image: AKA)

Not far away at 84 William Street is the newest Manhattan location for AKA, which operates buildings with serviced residential-style suites for longer-stay business travelers. The new 132-unit AKA Wall Street has studio, one- and two-bedroom suites with hardwood floors, kitchens, free premium cable TV services including HBO, free local phone calls with voicemail, and free Wi-Fi, among other amenities. It has a 24-hour staffed front desk, free laundry facilities, housekeeping, and same-day dry cleaning, as well as a fitness center and business center. The property is taking reservations starting in the first week of June, with rates start at $295 a night.

A colorful room at The Redbury on East 30th Street. (Image: The Redbury)

Manhattan used to have commercial hotels that catered only to female guests, like the Barbizon on East 63rd Street and the Martha Washington on E. 30th. Now the former Martha Washington has been made over and just opened as The Redbury New York (the entrance has been moved from 30th Street to 29 E. 29th Street, between Madison and Park). It’s a member of the Preferred Hotels group. The boutique property has 256 rooms that offer Wi-Fi, designer bath amenities and in-room dining from the hotel’s on-site restaurant called Marta – part of celebrity restaurateur Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group. Advance purchase rates start at $269.

Guest accommodations at the new Shocard near Times Square. (Image: Hotel Shocard)

In the Times Square area (on 41st Street between Seventh and Eighth avenues) is the newly opened Hotel Shocard, a boutique property with just 45 rooms and two suites. It sports a Broadway theater theme, with “inspiration from the grit and the glamour of NYC in the 1960s and 1970s,” the opening announcement says. (Well, grit anyway; it cites the movies Midnight Cowboy and Taxi Driver as representative of the “old Times Square” of that era.) Anyway, rooms are equipped with furniture custom-made in Italy and the hotel offers free Wi-Fi and daily newspaper. It has a bar/restaurant called Gleason’s Tavern that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and has a big selection of craft beers. Introductory rates start at $149.

Note: None of these new hotels are part of major chains and their popular frequent stay programs. How does that impact your desire to stay at them? Please leave your comments below.

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Editor Chris McGinnis

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